Rivian Software Issue: Alexa Keeps Saying I Need to Download or Update Spotify Before Selecting Songs

Rivian Blue

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R1S Rivian Blue
Since I got my R1S, I've not really had any major issue and I don't know if this is a major issue even tho it's a bit frustrating. I'm sharing my experience trying to diagnose it. I never have any problems playing Spotify from the touchscreen control. Often, however, when I tell Alexa to play a song on Spotify, the response is that I need to download or update the Spotify app.

1. Log out and then log back in to Spotify
2. Do an entertainment reset
3. Do a full reset
4. Do a power cycle, it always fixes the problem - temporarily.

The problem then consistently resurfaces, sometimes only minutes later. Rivian support does not have any additional recommendations, and Rivian is sending a service person to my home in next week to try to diagnose. The Rivian support person with whom I spoke suspected that the issue is a software issue.

Meanwhile, I have attempted to self diagnose the problem. Within the iOS Alexa app, my Spotify account is associated with my Alexa account, and I have selected Spotify as my default music provider. I tried creating a separate Amazon account with a new email (in case my use of Alexa throughout my home somehow contributes to the error) and also created a separate Spotify account just for the Rivian and associated that one with Alexa (in case my use of Spotify throughout the day on other speakers or Sonos somehow contributes). These efforts did not change the error or affects its frequency.

I recently had my longest error free run of a day and a half after logging out of Apple Music and staying logged out. As soon as I logged back in to Apple Music, the Alexa/Spotify error returned. I was convinced that the problem was a software issue trigged when switching between Apple Music and Spotify.

I then tried controlling my music through siri. When controlling Spotify with siri, the song changes on Rivian's native app. When controlling Apple Music through siri, it plays on the Rivian through bluetooth. It appears that even if I log out of Apple Music, if I controll Spotify through Alexa and then switch to another source, even my phone's bluetooth, the error is triggered again - not 100% of the time, but often.

I think, for now, I will try to get used to controlling both Apple Music and Spotify through siri. This will allow me to maintain voice control through both apps, while still allowing me to enjoy Apple's lossless audio when it is safe for me to control the music by hand.

This has been frustrating I won't lie, and I'm curious if others are having the same issues.
 

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